BritBox UK have confirmed that it will no longer commission original programming ahead of the launch of ITVX later this year.
Notable BritBox commissions include a revival of Spitting Image, dramas Magpie Murders and The Beast Must Die and numerous documentaries. A spokesperson told TV Zone: "BritBox UK will not be commissioning further originals."
A spokesperson went on to tell Broadcast: "BritBox International is an entirely different business and it will not be impacted by these changes and will continue to have originals."
ITVX is a new streaming service from ITV - the UK’s first integrated advertising and subscription funded (AVOD/SVOD) platform. BritBox UK will be folded into ITVX, but will remain a separate brand on the platform.
ITVX promises to be viewer led - viewers can choose to watch thousands of hours of content for free in an advertising funded tier or trade up to a subscription service which provides all that content ad-free and in addition provides thousands more hours of British boxsets from BritBox and other partners’ content.
In a step change to its traditional approach ITV will now adopt a digital first windowing strategy - premiering much of its new content first on ITVX and subsequently months later on ITV linear channels.
It was announced last week that the second series of Irvine Welch's Crime will debut on ITVX. The first series was commissioned as a BritBox original series. Both series are then expected to air on the main ITV channel.
Dougray Scott will return as troubled detective, Ray Lennox, in a second series of the original crime thriller, Crime, adapted from the best-selling novel by one of Scotland’s greatest ever writers, Irvine Welsh.
A new series of Spitting Image has not yet been commissioned, TV Zone understands. More details about the launch of ITVX will be revealed in due course.